Heat Tolerant

[terjul]

I've raised chickens in several different states, but never in an extreme heat state (AZ). I'm doing research on which breeds are heat tolerant and still docile. I'm not concerned with egg reduction in the summer. I'd like to learn as much as possible before placing an order with the local hatchery and any suggestions would be a big help.

 

[micah O]

go to the library and see if you can find any laws against it.

 

[terjul]

I'm sorry, you lost me micah O. Laws against what?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart does list heat / cold tolerance.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Arizona gets a lot hotter than we do in Ohio, even during the worst of the summer 90's usually with the occasional 100+ day is our limit. So based on that, pretty much any of the Mediterranean type breeds seem to do OK during that heat, the Leghorns, Andalusians, Minorcas, Fayoumis, the smaller Easter Eggers stay pretty happy also.

 

[Primo]

My experience is limited as I am new to this. I live in Texas just south of Dallas. This spring I got dominuques, marans, red sex links and buff orps. We had many 100+ days with high humidity this year. They all did fine. This surprised me as the buff orps look like a giant down pillow. I am sure smaller breeds will tolerate it better, but I think any breed will be ok as long as you provide good conditions for them (my coop and run are shaded all day under a giant pecan tree),

 

[Banriona]

Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart does list heat / cold tolerance.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Arizona gets a lot hotter than we do in Ohio, even during the worst of the summer 90's usually with the occasional 100+ day is our limit. So based on that, pretty much any of the Mediterranean type breeds seem to do OK during that heat, the Leghorns, Andalusians, Minorcas, Fayoumis, the smaller Easter Eggers stay pretty happy also.

Henderson's is a great reference resource. for a searchable database you can also try http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_selector.html but they only do the chicken breeds that they sell so it's not as inclusive as Henderson's. I'm sure other hatchery websites have something similar. Mother Earth News also has an iphone app called Pickin' Chicken that includes heat tolerance as well. Doesn't have every single breed out there - but does have a good bit.

Pretty much anything of Mediterranean origin is going to be good in the heat as well as several Asian breeds. Polish, Campines, Lakenvelders, Red Stars, Orpingtons and Spitzhaubens and Easter Eggers are ones that a LOT of people locally (NC) have. Might be a good idea to check out the thread for your state and ask them what they have and how they handle the heat. Personally I have EE's and Delawares that are supposedly very heat tolerant, but they haven't had their first summer yet. Come spring I'm aiming at some Polish and some Red Stars to add to my flock.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Agree with all of the above. The Mediterranean breeds were all bred to withstand heat.

Also, look at the bird. Anything light-bodied with a big comb will handle heat well. Heavy birds with small combs were bred to handle cold.

 

[terjul]

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions. I'll be putting the Mother Earth app on my phone today and will look into both websites. A friend of mine in the white mountains, is over run with chickens and she gave me a few of her girls, but one is a Buff Orpington, which is the one little lady I'm concerned about when it reaches 115. We have a nice set up with a lot of shade trees and will be putting up misters, so I'll do my best to keep her as cool as possible.

 

[Banriona]

I'm thinking any bird will struggle at 115 but sounds like you have a good plan to help them through it. Happy Chickening!